Distinctly Here
Exhibition Dates: April 10th - 19th
Online Sales Launch: 8pm April 9th
Opening Night: Friday April 10th 6pm
Artists: Greta Hounslow, Deb Michell-Smith and Matthew Watts
Distinctly Here invites you to explore the textures, forms, and familiar rhythms of Australian life through the work of three artists. From bustling built environments to quiet natural moments, each artist presents works that reflect their own sense of presence and connection to place - offering a glimpse of what feels truly, unmistakably Australian.
Greta Hounslow
Greta Hounslow is an Australian artist whose intuitive paintings merge abstract forms with elements of Australiana, inspired by her deep connection to nature, travels across Australia, and life in Hobart, Tasmania. Her richly layered landscapes evoke memory, emotion, and the textures, colours, and rhythms of bushland and coastline, inviting viewers into quiet, meditative worlds. Hounslow has been a finalist in the Noosa Art Prize, Revival Art and Design Emerging Artist Prize, and The Corner Store Gallery’s Inside This Box Art Prize, and has exhibited widely across Australia.
“Dusk settles around me and the country slows. Old tracks run through red dirt and dry grass, softened by time and weather. As I smell the eucalyptus I sense my roots firmly in the ground - still warm beneath my feet.
I spot some kangaroos moving quietly ahead, unbothered, following paths they know well. Water catches the last of the light as the sun drops low. I stop for a moment, standing easy, letting the land speak in its own way before night fully arrives…”
Deb Michell-Smith
Deb Michell-Smith is a regional NSW artist whose drawing and painting practice focuses on outback and regional Australian landscapes. Her work explores presence, resilience, and connection to place, often capturing moments of stillness and transition. Figures, animals, and land coexist in her paintings, suggesting quiet narratives of endurance and belonging. A finalist in the John Villiers Outback Art Prize and the National Emerging Art Prize, Michell-Smith lives and works in regional New South Wales.
“This collection comes from time spent in outback and regional Australia. These are places where the land stretches wide, the light can be harsh, and everything feels heightened rather than romantic.
These paintings reflect a quiet way of looking and waiting, noticing what endures in these landscapes: solitude, watchfulness, and a deep sense of resilience. I’m interested in how figures, animals and the land share space. There’s often stillness, but never emptiness. Fencelines, trees and distant horizons become simple markers of time, survival and connection.
These works aren’t about spectacle. They’re about slowing down and being present long enough to notice what remains. For me, this is what feels distinctly here: the weight of the land, the easing of time, and the quiet strength found in outback and regional Australia.”
Matthew Watts
Matthew’s work has captured the hearts of art lovers who appreciate the mellow nostalgia of Milk bar visits, swinging on a clothesline and general backyard bliss.
British born, he has lived in Australia since 2001, slowly absorbing the atmosphere of ‘Vintage Suburbia’ that is now sadly becoming an all too rare sight.
The temporal aspects of everyday life, our surroundings and what we surround ourselves with reman a constant source of inspiration for him. In the work we see a reflection of simpler times. The soft coloured weatherboard homes replete with a Hills clothesline, koala postbox and occasional native bird, act as signifiers and set the scene in these carefully detailed paintings that embody the warmth of bygone days in the sun.
With a painting career that spans over forty years, Matthew has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Australia and the United Kingdom. His work is held by Artbank, Australia and in private collections across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.